Every Bed of Roses: Zoo Visits for Science

Better late than never! I'm so sorry this post is late. Today we are on the final letter for this years Blogging Through The Alphabet! Wow the letter Z. My co-host Desiree is sharing the Z is for Zone!

The topic today is Zoo Visits for Science! A visit to the zoo is so good no matter what age you are. I'm so grateful for zoo's around the world. They contribute to so much of the knowledge that we have and allow us to experience different biomes and animals from across the globe. They are places that protect and preserve life and contribute to the wellness of so many people through having access to being able to see and experience the beauty that is out there in our world.

One of the mistakes we make is thinking we need to spend ALL day at the zoo. Our local government zoo has a membership program making it much cheaper to be able to go to the zoo multiple times throughout the year. By planning our day and choosing which animals we wanted to see that day made a HUGE difference to us enjoying the zoo together. We would pack morning tea. Take ourselves to the zoo and look at those sections we had chosen and come home. Everyone enjoyed this approach so much more than long protracted days at the zoo.

Wild Nights Zoo After Dark 2015

Keep an eye on your local zoo what's on page. We discovered that our Zoo ran a week long night program in winter allowing us to see the zoo after dark. We have such wonderful memories of toasting marshmallows, seeing possums up trees and meeting the serval.

We attended this event for a few years, you can see some of our adventures along with video's in these posts:

Werribee Zoo Wild Nights - we saw fire dancing, laser shows and animals after dark
Night Zoo Delight - Take a photo journey with us through Werribee Open Range zoo after dark and meet the serval in a YouTube clip.

Taking our children both young and old to the zoo is a great way to incorporate hands on science with your children. The interpretive signs at the zoo are full of scientific and geographic information. You will cover subjects like history, geography, science, biology, maths and literacy.

Members of the MSO tuning up and preparing for the conductor and performance.

We also covered music at Melbourne Zoo! A few years ago they ran a program with white Melbourne Symphony Orchestra - Carnival of the Animals. It was so much fun to see the animals, meet members of the orchestra and enjoy this particular event and meet Noni Hazelhurst. It was a day full of culture at the Zoo!

Over the years as a family we have some of the most amazing adventures and builds some wonderful memories at the zoo.

A Tall Order Encounter - a photo journal of meeting the giraffe at Werribee Open Range Zoo.
A Day at Healsville Sanctuary - This is the sister zoo to Werribee. It specialises in Australian Wildlife. They have a wonderful wildlife hospital there that the public can go into and see what the vets are doing.
An Afternoon at Werribee Open Range Zoo - going on a bus trip at Werribee Zoo made for an interesting time.
A day trip to the zoo - some behind the scenes photo's of the serval and cheetah.

Different States in Australia have different rules about meeting Australian animals. When we went to Queensland in 2012 we were blessed with being able to hold and meet koala. It was a super special time for us all.

Paul and Sir N released number four of the Bandicoots.

This is one of the most special memories I have of Paul and Nathaniel! They released bandicoots into the new breeding area at Werribee Open Range Zoo. This breeding program has become one of the success stories for Zoo's Victoria as Bandicoots are no longer endangered.

This post has come at the perfect time because this week Zoo's around the world celebrated International Zoo Keeper Day! I'm so proud of all the wonderful work that Paul does at Werribee Open Range Zoo alongside his colleagues. You can follow some of his adventures on Instagram @servalpaul or on Facebook at Serval Paul Photography.

What is your favourite thing to do at the zoo?

Blessings

Chareen